Railroads have had a great effect on Colorado’s history. They have changed the landscape, paved the way through the mountains and established many of our towns.
One railroad with some influence on north-central Colorado was a line that operated for only seven short years, the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern.
This railroad was the idea of four Laramie businessmen and incorporated in Wyoming in 1906.
Its founders had grandiose plans to run from Denver to Seattle through Laramie and Yellowstone National Park.
Through a subsidiary real estate company, the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern left its mark establishing the towns of Welby, Wattenberg, Fort St. Vrain, Milliken and Scott.
In its rush to Seattle, it left behind miles of abandoned right of way and a 350-foot tunnel near the Colorado-Wyoming line.
Construction started in 1908 from Utah Junction north of Denver.
The following year, it established the town of Milliken, named after railroad executive Judge John D. Milliken. The streets were named for the wives of the executives.
Grading crews plowed furrows in the 600-acre town site to mark streets then continued grading towards Fort Collins.
The railroad tried to gain financial help from Fort Collins along its original proposed route. When this failed, track was laid north of Milliken to Greeley.
Greeley, however, was no picnic. Condemnation procedures were brought by the railroad against 35 property owners resulting with the loss of 40 to 50 structures.
Court battles resulted in the loss of financial resources for the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern. It won its right to enter Greeley, and the line began operating trains in June of 1910.
This would be the end of the line and the closest it ever got to Seattle.
One of the towns founded by the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern was Scott, located about 16 miles north of Fort Collins. This town was laid out in 1910 and was to have been a division point for the railroad complete with shops.
Only a few people ever lived in the Scott area and the tracks never came close to the site. In 1941, Scott became one of the few towns withdrawn in Larimer County.
As with today’s land speculation, a subsidiary real estate company promoted lots and garden tracts to the citizens of Denver.
Land excursions, well advertised in newspapers, were financed by the railroad. In one case, a free chicken dinner was given to every prospective investor purchasing a $1.50 ticket to visit Milliken. The $1.50 was refunded if a lot was purchased.
The most unique monument left by this railroad is the Butte Royal tunnel constructed in 1910-11 and located near Virginia Dale along Fish Creek. Track never reached this tunnel.
Black powder was used to carve this 19-foot-high, 350-foot-long tunnel through the area’s granite. It is unsupported except for the collars at either end.
Italians hired to work on the tunnel apparently did not like the idea of living in a tent camp. They constructed their own huts and beehive bread ovens along the grade.
As the years passed, the area around the tunnel has been subdivided and developed. Today the tunnel is deep within private property and no longer accessible.
The Denver, Laramie & Northwestern provided passenger and freight service between Greeley and Denver starting in 1910. Passengers were carried in modernistic McKeen motorcars at speeds up to 60 miles per hour.
Despite all of the efforts to make the line profitable, it could not compete with the Union Pacific. The railroad was sandwiched between the Union Pacific’s Dent Branch and its main line through Greeley.
In June of 1912, stockholders sought protection for their investment and forced the railroad into receivership.
At the hearing, the judge looked out into his courtroom and appointed his bailiff as receiver for the railroad’s assets.
The bailiff had no business experience. Nevertheless, he kept the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern operating until 1917 when it was sold to a Denver junk dealer.
The Great Western purchased half of the track to access fields already planted in sugar beet.
In 1970, the Great Western dismantled the last remaining section of the Denver, Laramie & Northwestern from Milliken to Elm (part way to Greeley).
A safe (combination forgotten), promotional brochures, the tunnel and abandoned grades are all that physically remains of this forgotten railroad. However, Milliken is a thriving town and Wattenberg survives as a small community.